White Chocolate Brown Sugar Cookies

Happy Friday!!  These cookies are one of my all time favorites!  They're yummy as is and take well to dried fruits (apricots - yum!) or a switch up of the chocolate.

White Chocolate Brown Sugar Cookies

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
3 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 bag white chocolate chips
1/2 cup ground pecans

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees
2. Cream together the butter and sugars
3. Add in eggs and vanilla
4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt
5. Combine the dry and wet ingredients
6. Stir in white chocolate and nuts until just combined
7. Drop by teaspoons onto cookie sheet
8. Bake at 300 degrees for 18-20 minutes

BMT Panini

Happy Friday!!  Now that we planted our garden, I have plenty of basil for my all time favorite summer sandwich - Basil, Mozzarella and Tomato Paninis.  So simple, but sooooo good.  Now we just need for those tomatoes to hurry up and ripen :)

Basil, Mozzarella and Tomato Panini

Ingredients
loaf of unsliced Italian bread, cut into 1 inch slices
2-3 large tomatoes, sliced 3/4 inch thick
large bunch of basil (or 3-4 leaves of basil per sandwich)
1 pound fresh sliced mozzarella (or 2 slices fresh mozzarella per sandwich)
butter
mayonnaise
fresh cracked pepper


Directions

1. Preheat grill pan to medium-high heat
2. Lightly butter one slice of bread and place butter side down on plate
3. Lightly spread bread with mayonnaise
4. Top mayonnaise with slice of mozzarella (or two), two slices of tomato, fresh cracked pepper (to taste)
5. Add basil leaves and second slice of mozzarella
6. Lightly spread second slice of bread with mayonnaise and place atop sandwich, mayo side down
7. Lightly butter top of sandwich
8. Gently place sandwich onto griddle pan and immediately top with panini press, large skillet or foil wrapped brick
9. Let sandwich cook for 2-3 minutes until bread is golden brown and toasty
10. Remove the press/skillet/brick and gingerly flip sandwich; Replace press/skillet/brick on this side
11. Cook for another 1-2 minutes until golden brown
12. Repeat Steps 2-11 for all sandwiches

Bananalicious Crumb Muffins

Happy Friday!  If you haven't already guessed, I have a sweet tooth the size of Texas.  When we have a few overripe bananas in the house (which is often), I whip up a batch of these yummies for breakfast.  Because banana's are good for you right hehehe.  I'm sure the the sugar crunch topping is totally neutralized by all the good stuff in the banana!

Bananalicious Crumb Muffins

Muffin Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup flour (all-purpose)
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping Ingredients
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 and lightly grease 10 muffin cups or 8 mini loaf pans
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt
3. In another bowl, beat together the bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter
4. Stir the banana mixture into the dry ingredients until just moistened
5. Spoon batter into prepared pan(s)
6. In a small bowl mix the brown sugar and flour for the topping
7. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal
8. Sprinkle topping over muffin batter
9. Bake in preheated oven (18-20 minutes for muffins, 20-25 minutes for mini loaves) or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin/loaf comes out clean

Grilled Pizza

Happy Friday!  Oh how I love Fridays.  Friday's usually mean dinner out, family visits and lots of pre-weekend errands.  But every so often, they mean a relaxed (well, as relaxed the little Tornado of Toys allows them to be) dinner at home with lots of playtime and no particular things to do or place to be.  These are my favorite kind of Fridays (probably because they're so hard to come by!)  For those delicious Fridays, I like to pull out my favorite pizza dough recipe and have the hubby grill it up (after I prebake the shell).  There's something oh so yummy about a grilled pizza and an unhurried evening!

Grilled Pizza with Italian Sausage, Mushrooms, Onions and Pepperoncinis

Dough Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 + 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1/4 cup pepper (or to taste)
2 teaspoons garlic powder


Topping Ingredients:
2 Hot Italian Sausage links
1/4 cup mushrooms, chopped
1/4 red onion, chopped or sliced thin
3 tablespoons sliced pepperoncinis
1/2 cup your favorite pizza sauce
1 cup shredded Italian blend cheese

Directions For the Dough:

1. Combine yeast with 1/4 cup water in a large mixing bowl and let stand for 10 minutes
2. While yeast is proofing, combine sugar, salt, garlic powder and pepper
3. After 10 minutes, add the flour, olive oil 1 cup water and spices to the bowl
4. Mix/Knead dough for 10-12 minutes (I let my mixer do the work) - dough should be elastic and smooth
5. Put dough in oiled bowl; Cover and let stand for 1 hour
6. Divide dough in half (for this recipe we're only using 1/2 of the dough - the other 1/2 can be put in the refrigerator for a few days or in the freezer up to a month)

Directions For the Toppings:

1. Remove casing from sausages
2. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a pan over medium heat
3. Add sausages and saute - break sausages apart as they cook
4. After 5 minutes of cooking, add mushrooms and continue to cook until sausage is cooked through
5. Remove from heat and set aside

Assemble Pizza:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Roll/Stretch dough into pizza crusts of desired thickness (I use jelly roll pans)
3. Prick holes in the dough with a fork
4. Prebake dough at 375 for 5-7 minutes
5. Heat grill to medium
6. Remove prebaked shells and top each with pizza sauce, cheese, sausage/mushrooms, red onion & pepperoncinis
7. Gently transfer pizza to the grill using a large spatula
8. Close the lid and grill until cheese is melted and crust is desired crispness (5-7 minutes)
9. Remove from grill very carefully (I slide the pan back under it to remove) and enjoy

Yummy Summer Salad

Now that the weather is nice enough for regular grilling, I find myself looking for tasty salads to serve alongside the platters of grilled deliciousness.  Here are two of my go-to favorites...

Fresh Tomato Salad
3-4 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/2 medium sweet onion, chopped fine
1/2 cup Red Pepper Vinagrette
Fresh cracked pepper, to taste

1. Mix tomatoes, onion and dressing together
2. Add freshly cracked pepper
3. Dig in to a big bite of summer

Spring Potato Salad
4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 packet Good Seasons Italian Dressing
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 medium red onion, chopped fine
3-4 radishes, sliced thin

1. Bring large pot of water to a full boil, add potato cubes and boil for 20 minutes (after 20 minutes, check potato for doneness - continue to boil if not completely cooked through)
2. While potatoes are boiling, wisk dressing mix with vinegar, water, olive oil and mustard
3. Drain potatoes and toss with red onion, radishes and prepared dressing
4. Mix well and chill until serving

Smothered BBQ Chicken with Grilled Potatoes

Now that the weather is heating up, we'll be doing alot of grilling (and by we, I mean the hubs). This is one of our favorite Aussie restaurant-inspired grilled dinners: Smothered BBQ Chicken w/ Grilled Potatoes and a cool salad

Smothered BBQ Chicken with Grilled Potatoes and Tomato Salad
BBQ Chicken Ingredients
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, rinsed and trimmed
6 slices bacon, cooked and cut into halves
1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
1 cup of your favorite BBQ Sauce

Grilled Potato Ingredients
4 medium potatoes
1/4 sweet onion, chopped fine
2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup shredded monterey jack or pepper-jack cheese
2 teaspoons pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
olive oil


Salad Ingredients:
2 cups mixed lettuce, chopped
1 small carrot, shredded
1 fresh tomato, chopped
1/4 cup sweet onion or red onion, chopped fine
2-3 springs fresh dill
Ranch dressing

 Directions:

1. Preheat grill to medium-high
2. Wash the potatoes
3. Combine the salt, pepper and garlic powder
4. Rub each potato with a little olive oil and then sprinkle with salt & pepper
5. Cut each potato in half lengthwise
6. Put the potato halves on the grill, cut side down
7. While the potatoes are grilling, toss salad ingredients together
8. Put chicken on the grill and baste with BBQ sauce
9. Flip the potatoes after 20 and grill for an additional 10 minutes
10. Flip the chicken after 7, baste with more BBQ sauce
11. Continue to flip and baste the chicken every 10 minutes until fully cooked

To assemble:

1. Arrange two bacon strip halves in an X on top of each chicken breast; top with approximately 2 tablespoons shredded cheese
2. Sprinkle approximately 1 tablespoon of cheese onto each potato half; top with approximately 1 teaspoon onion, 1 teaspoon crumbled bacon and another 1 tablespoon of shredded cheese

Yummy Fried Rice

Fried rice is one my guilty pleasures.  Fortunately, the hubs does not share my love (for the fried rice that is) so one batch means yummy lunches for a week :)  Here's my favorite fried rice recipe.  It is ridiculously easy and so yummy!

Yummy Fried Rice

1 cup white rice (not instant or quick rice)
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
2 tablespoons finely grated carrot
1 small onion
1/2 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons soy sauce (or to taste)
salt & pepper

1. Cook the rice according to the instructions on the package (approximately 20 minutes).  Once cooked, set aside to cool
2. While rice is cooking, scramble the eggs either in a small pan or in the microwave.  Chop the scrambled egg into small pea-sized bits
3. Melt butter in large frying pan over medium-high heat
4. Add rice, peas, carrot, onion, mushrooms, egg and soy sauce to the frying pan; add a dash of salt & pepper to taste
5. Cook over medium-high heat for 6-8 minutes, stirring often

4 Step BBQ Pork Sammies

I love BBQ... and I love pulled pork... and most of all, I LOVE easy!  The hubs isn't so fond of pork chops - he just doesn't dig the texture of the chop.  But he doesn't mind them if they've been turned into a little BBQ sammie.  So, in an effor to clear out the freezer, this crazy-easy BBQ pork was born:

4 Step BBQ Pork Sammies

1 pound boneless pork chops
1/2 bag frozen peppers & onions
1 bottle BBQ sauce
1/4 cup peppocini 'juice' (the liquid from jarred pepperocini's)
1 package of buns
1 cup prepared coleslaw (if desired)
sliced pepperocini's (if desired)

1. Add BBQ sauce, pork chops, pepperocini juice and peppers & onions to a crock pot
2. Cook on low for 6 hours, stiring once or twice during cooking
3. Shred pork chops with 2 forks
4. Split the buns, heap on some BBQ pork and garnish with coleslaw and pepperocini's

They're super messy, but oh so yummy :)

Chicken Panini Sandwiches and Bonus link to Rollo Cookies

I am a huge panini fan. What can be better than buttery, toasted bread encompassing gooey, melted cheese and an assortment of other yummies! 

Chicken Paninis

8 slices of Italian bread, buttered on one side
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 squares of aluminum foil (approx 12x18 inches each)
1/2 cup Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette salad dressing (or other Italian dressing)
1 tomato, sliced
8 slices of bacon, cooked (I bake my bacon on a baking sheet at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes)
4 slices of pepper-jack cheese

For the chicken

1. Marinate chicken in the dressing for at least 1 hour or overnight
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
3. Center one chicken breast on each of the squares of foil
4. Fold up foil sides and double fold top and ends to seal packet, leaving room for heat circulation inside. Repeat to make two packets
5. Place packets on cookie/baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes
6. Remove from oven and set aside to cool
7. Once cooled, remove chicken and slice into 1/4 in slices on a slight diagonal

Assemble Sandwiches

1. Preheat griddle pan on medium-high heat
2. Place one slice of bread, butter side down 
3. Stack 1/4 chicken, 2 slices of bacon and 1 slice of pepper-jack cheese
4. Top with one slice of bread, butter side up
5. Gently place sandwich onto griddle pan and immediately top with panini press, large skillet or foil wrapped brick
6. Let sandwich cook for 2-3 minutes until bread is golden brown and toasty
7. Remove the press/skillet/brick and gingerly flip sandwich; Replace press/skillet/brick on this side
8. Cook for another 1-2 minutes until golden brown
9. Remove sandwich and gently peel apart to add tomato to sandwich
10. Repeat steps 1-9 for all four sandwiches

And here's the bonus link to the Rollo Cookies from Cassity at Remodelaholic.  I made them last week and they are FANTASTIC.  They have been entered into my 'All Time Favorite Cookie Recipes' folder.

Enjoy!

Nachos Grande

Most often when we go out to dinner, we end up ordering an appetizer.  The hubby and I have different tastes when it comes to the appetizer menu, but the one thing that we can always agree on are Nachos.  To keep us from going out every time the Nacho bug bit, I came up with this version of our favorite 'tizer.  Salty, savory, a little bit of heat...mmmmmmmm.

Nachos Grande

1 pound ground meat

1/2 packet taco seasoning (I use Old Elpaso)

1/4 cup of water

1 1/3 cups shredded cheese (I use a fiesta blend)

1/2 red onion, chopped fine

1 bag corn chips

garnishes

sour cream

salsa

sliced jalepenos

scallions, sliced

tomatoes, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 325
2. Brown ground meat in a large skillet
3. Drain excess fat from the pan (I use lean ground beef and find that there is little to no fat to drain off)
4. Add taco seasoning and 1/4 cup of water to the pan & stir, let simmer for 3-5 minutes until thickened
5. While meat is simmering, layer corn chips onto a large baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes
6. Line a large baking pan with foil (skip this step if you want a messier cleanup)
7. Add approximately one-third of the corn chips to the baking pan
8. Layer approximately one-third of each, meat, cheese and onion on top of the corn chips
9. Repeat steps 7 & 8 twice more to build a nacho lasagna (or you could bake 1 layer at a time - I just stack it up to save time)
10. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese is nice and bubbly

To serve, pile nachos onto a HUGE serving platter and sprinkle liberally (or to taste) with tomatoes, jalepenos and scallions. Add a dollup of sour cream and bowl of salsa on the side.

Bistro Tuna Sandwich

On the weekends, I try to make tasty sandwiches for lunch.  One day the gourmand stars aligned just right and the idea for this fresh-tasting lemony tuna sandwich popped into my head.  The very next weekend I tried it out - it was every bit as yummy as I hoped it would be.  To me, it tastes of summer at a sea-side bistro...

Bistro Tuna Sandwich

Sandwich Ingredients:

2 packages Starkist lemon pepper tuna (regular tuna packed in water works fine in a pinch)

1 1/2 cups chopped lettuce (I use a combination of iceberg, romaine and red leaf)

1/4 medium red onion - sliced thin

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

4 sausage roll buns

Dressing Ingredients:

2 lemons

1 packet Great Seasons Italian Dressing dry mix

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

pepper to taste

Directions for Dressing:

1. Juice the lemons
2. Add Italian dressing mix, olive oil and mustard
3. Whisk together until an emulsification occurs (it sticks together in a creamy-ish dressing)

Directions for Sandwich Assembly:

1. Combine the lettuce and tuna in a large bowl
2. Add the lemon dressing to the bowl and toss well to coat
3. Split the buns
4. Heap lettuce-tuna mixture onto the bottom bun halves and top with the chopped tomatoes & sliced onions

Heart Stopping Garlic Pasta

A few (kinda) little known fact about me:  I adore alfredo sauce and I also love garlic wings (I actually just love the sauce, I could live without the chicken wing part).  So I thought, why not combine two of my favorite savory indulgences??  *Poof*  My heart stopping garlic pasta was born.  **Warning** this recipe is VERY indulgent, high calorie and high fat (aren't all the best yummies like that!) - you might gain a few pounds by simply reading the recipe!

Heart Stopping Garlic Sauce

1 stick of butter
2 cups heavy cream (I've also used regular 2% milk)
1 1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese (fresh parmesan is most tasty, but the stuff in a can is a fine substitute)
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

1. Melt butter over medium heat in medium-sized saucepan
2. Add heavy cream and spices; let simmer for 10 minutes
3. Add parmesan cheese slowly, stirring to incorporate fully
4. Simmer on medium-low heat until desired thickenss

Yes, it is that easy and it is soooooo good!  This sauce is delicious on it's own (seriously, I could eat this on bread), but since alfredo sandwiches don't really appeal to the hubby, I generally add sauteed chicken, green peppers, mushrooms and onions to the pasta toss.  It would also be amazing with grilled shrimp or some tender asparagus!  Mmmm - I'm making myself hungry!

Bacon Ranch Pizza

Well hellooooo there and welcome to Frugalicious Friday! What is a Frugalicious Friday you ask? It's my attempt at fun resturaunt-inspired recipes. We were eating out way too much due to both the convenience factor and fun food factor. So, in order to pinch a few pennies for bigger projects, I decided to try my hand at making tasty, fun, resturaunt-type fare at home. Some of these posts are actual resturaunt knock-offs and others are just inspired by resturaunt fare. And by resturaunt, I mean family-friendly type spots like Applebees, Friday's and the like. So here's my first post: Bacon Ranch Pizza with Tomatoes, Caramelized Onions and Shallots

I tried making my own pizza dough for the first time in January. Fortunately, I read a review on AllRecipes.com that said, “use the dough hook on your mixer”. OMG. It’s so easy - the mixer does all the work! And the beautiful thing about making your own is that you control what goes into it! Oh how I love control (yes, I have issues).  Ok, enough of my ramblings....

Bacon Ranch Pizza

 Dough Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
3 tablespoons olive oil 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon white sugar
1 + 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons fresh cracked pepper 1/4 teaspoon dried dill

Topping Ingredients:
8 slices bacon, cooked and roughly chopped
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
1 large shallot, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 large tomato, chopped
shredded italian blend cheese
1/2 cup pizza sauce 1/4 cup ranch dressing


Directions For the Toppings:

1. Saute onions and shallots in 2 tablespoons of butter until carmelized
2. Combine pizza sauce and ranch dressing

Directions For the Dough:

1. Combine yeast with water in a large mixing bowl and let stand for 10 minutes
2. While yeast is proofing, combine sugar, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, dill and fresh pepper
3. After 10 minutes, add the flour, olive oil and spices to the bowl
4. Mix/Knead dough for 10-12 minutes - dough should be elastic and smooth
5. Put dough in oiled bowl; Cover and let stand for 1 hour

Assemble Pizza:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Divide dough into 2 equal parts
3. Roll/Stretch dough into two pizza crusts of desired thickness (I use jelly roll pans)
4. Prick holes in the dough with a fork
5. Prebake dough at 375 for 5-7 minutes
6. Remove prebaked shells and top each with 1/2 pizza-ranch sauce, cheese, bacon, onions and shallots, and tomatoes
7. Return to the oven for an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and crust is crispy